On September 16, the Openlands Advisory Council hosted a guided hike through the parks and community gardens of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. The hike highlighted our interwoven efforts to connect people to nature where they live by exploring green space in urban areas. “Hiking” typically triggers images of winding trails, quiet forests, and unexpected vistas. But nature surrounds us, even in the heart of the city, and is just as compelling.
The 2017 #ChiUrbanHike began at Mitchell Elementary School, where hikers learned about our Building School Gardens program, Openlands’ long-standing partnership with Chicago Public Schools to create spaces for students to learn and opportunities to engage with communities. The stop at Mitchell Elementary included a bird walk exemplary of Openlands’ Birds in my Neighborhood® program, one of our environmental education efforts designed to facilitate students’ daily interactions with nature. From there, groups headed out along parkways, through gardens, and under tree canopies.
“Our goal with the first-ever ChiUrbanHike was to demonstrate to Chicago’s residents how close at-hand nature is to any urban dweller, and how important it is for all of us,” explained Advisory Council member Dinesh Goburdhun.
The next stop on the hike was the Monarch Community Garden, where we shared stories of our work through the years to create and support community gardens throughout Chicago. We discussed the importance of pollinators in everyday life and learned about ways to support local pollinator conservation. Finally, we made our way to Chicago’s Humboldt Park where TreeKeepers shared information on our TreePlanters Grants program and led a short tree ID walk.
The 2017 #ChiUrbanHike then ended, as all good hikes do, with local beer and snacks at the Boathouse. “The inaugural ChiUrbanHike was a huge success,” continued Dinesh. “By the end of the afternoon, nearly 70 people had experienced the benefits of the trees, gardens, parks, and wildlife throughout the West Town and Humboldt Park neighborhoods. We all came away excited to discover more and to share that excitement with other Chicagoans.”
Openlands 2017 #ChiUrbanHike | view the photos
You can check out our best photos from the day above and see what hikers shared on Instagram.
Openlands is currently exploring different ways we can share the route of the hike as well as the information shared by our guides with the public so that everyone can explore the nature around them in Chicago.
Many thanks to our sponsors Boxed Water, KIND Snacks, and Goose Island Brewery for their support along the way and at the post-hike happy hour, and to both Mitchell Elementary and the Monarch Community Garden for sharing their spaces. Openlands thanks our Advisory Council members for their leadership in planning and hosting the inaugural #ChiUrbanHike.
If you are interested in learning more about the programs discussed along the way, please email info@openlands.org and mention the hike!